Improvement in construction of railways



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

sWAiN wiNKLEY, or NEW YORK, N. Y., AssiGNon To HIMsnLr AND Asif BIGELOV, JR.

IMPROVEMENT IN CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAYS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 58,565, dated October 2, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SWAIN VINKLEY, of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in the Construction of Railways; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had tothe accompan ying drawings, making a part of this specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

rThe object ot' my invention is to make an iron railway that will combine the elements of strength and elasticity, and be without the weight of metal that has hitherto rendered the cost of such structures so objectionable; and it consists in placing between the rails to be supported an extended base of corrugated sheet or plate iron, the sections of which are connected by light wrought-iron cross-ties to which they may be riveted, or otherwise se cured. The ridges or corrugations of the said base-plates are arranged transversely across the track, and require no support in that direction; and, to prevent the crushing ot' the corrugations, or the destruction of the series ot' arches of which the base-plates may be considered as composed, the edges of the outside corrugations are connected by a cappiece eX- tending across them, which serves as a tie and prevents the spreading or attening of the arches and consequent weakening of the p base-plate in that direction. The same end may be effected by riveting the rails to the edges of the pla-tes; but it is obvious that such an arrangement would be inconvenient to construct and difficult to repair.

The cap-piece is formed with lips that are turned up to grasp the footof the rail on each side, or it may be clamped and keyed to the rail, as may be preferred, or otherwise secured by bolts or rivets. The base-plates may be made as large as may be required .to sustain the pressure to which they will be subjected 5 and those under the joints of the rails may be .made with advantage somewhat longer than the intermediate ones, so that they will serve effectually to splice and strengthen the rails at those points.

It is believed that the form of the corrugations will furnishsutcient elasticity to obviate the uecessityfor making the special provision for the concussive action of passing trains that are usually required with metal or other rigid ties or supports. But it is apparent that felt or sheet rubber may be readily interposed, if desired, between the capipieees and the rails.

To enable others skilled in the arts to which it appertains to make and use my invent-ion, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation with reference to the drawings.

Figure l is a plan ot' a section of a railway, constructed according to my invention, in the manner I have described. Fig. 2 is a trans verse section of the same, and Fig. 3 is a side elevation of one of the base-plates and a portion of the rail it supports.

The outer edges ofthe base-plates a are connected and tied by the cap-pieces b, extending across the corrugations; and the sections or pairs of base-plates are connected across the roadway by the cross-ties c, that may be made of light wrought-iron, and have their ends bent through perforations in the base-plates into which they are riveted or clinched. By this means the exact length of the ties maybe easily determined with precision when they are made, and the width of the gage of the rails will require no measurement or adjust- A -ment when being laid. The lips of the cappieces b, as shown in the drawings, merely embrace the foot of the rail sufficient-ly to hold it securely in its place; but they may, if desired, be extended up the sides ot the rail, so as to obtain a bearing under the head on each side 5 or one side may be left open for the reception of a key, in the manner in which chairs are generally constructed.

The gures in the drawings illustrate the invention as applied to an ordinary Tarail, but the same system of construction may be adapted to the various patterns of rails employed on either steam or horse-roads.

The rails may be secured to t-he cap-pieces by a couple of small bolts passing through the foot of the rails; and the cap, in that case, may be made without lips and merely to sustain the rail in addition to its principal office of retaining the corrugations in the proper form, upon which their strength depends for most ett'ectually sustaining the weight; and,

to accomplish this last purpose most satisfac- I claimtorily, the base-plates may be made as large The construction ofthe corrugated baseand spaced as far apart as maybe considered plates a, combined with the cap-pieces b, and best adapted to circumstances. tie-rods c, when applied to railways, substanl am aware that longitudinal beams of cortially in the manner herein described. rugated iron have been applied to the construction of bridges and railways, and I therefore do not make abroad claim to the application of corrugated iron to the construction of railways.

SWAIN WINKLEY.

Witnesses THOMAS DAY, WM. KEMBLE HALL. 

